BT Group and Microsoft are set to team up with Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Mobile to launch what is expected to be Europe’s first nationwide digital television broadcast service for mobile phones.Confirmation of the roll-out of the service is expected to come on Tuesday at 3GSM in Barcelona, the biggest mobile phone industry gathering of the year.
Virgin Mobile, which is the target of a potential £920m ($1.6bn) offer by UK cable operator NTL, is preparing to launch the TV service to subscribers by the middle of the year following a four-month trial in 2005. It is expected to offer at least five TV stations and access to a large number of radio channels.
The service is offered on a wholesale basis by BT, the UK fixed-line telecoms operator, which has developed it in conjunction with Microsoft.
It is a derivative of commercial digital broadcast technology that went live for Korean mobile phone users last year.
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